FROM BOOK TO SCREEN: CREATING A DIGITAL PARADIGM FOR SCHOLARLY EDITIONS OF LITERATURE

*Possible path through the supplemental materials starting at the table of contents.*

From Book to Screen: Creating a Digital Paradigm for Scholarly Editions of Literature

Designer; information architect; animator

The emergence of hand-held reading devices forces graphic designers to rethink the task of making language visible. Electronic media, exemplified in my MFA project as a digital scholarly edition of literature, constitute a new vernacular. It is the responsibility of graphic designers not only to master this vernacular, but to foster its development.

This prototype can become a point of departure for graphic and software designers, providing a best practice system and a well-realized example of an intuitive, seamless reading experience with a low learning curve for the user. The outcome is a digital bibliographic code, if you will, that builds on the strengths inherent in the traditional codex while incorporating the advantages that a digital format brings. The system I have developed can be used as a tool for teaching literature and facilitating reading and comprehension of the source text and supplemental critical and contextual materials through the use of hand-held reading devices.

Navigational structure of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Detail of page showing the facsimile comparison function, which is particularly valuable for scholars.

Detail of page showing gloss/annotation function, which provides readers with annotative material for unfamiliar terms or additional material that is specific to a
particular word or passage.

Detail of page showing floating navigation function which incorporates user favorites.

In the center of the diagram above is a representative screen/page showing a dense amount of data. The column on the left describes supplemental critical and contextual elements of the main text. The column on the right describes functional components of the interface.

Representative screens. Watch video to see interactivity.

This video shows an animation of the functionality of the interface.